Canada’s Lawrence aiming for European honors with PSG

MIAMI – Week by week, teams around the world get closer to the midway point of the first half of the season in all competitions. This is the case for Paris Saint-Germain and Canada international Ashley Lawrence.

The 27-year-old defender has been with PSG since 2017, and has established herself as one of the key players for the Parisian side. She has won the French Cup and the Division 1 Femenine title, yet is aiming to win more this season across France and Europe.

Lawrence is used to the pressure of competing for titles in international competitions, having also been an important member of the Canada Women's National Team that won the Bronze Medal at the Rio Olympics in 2016 and then the Gold Medal at Tokyo 2020.

Lawrence and Canada also finished as runners-up earlier this year in Monterrey at the Concacaf W Championship, earning a spot to battle for a place in Paris 2024, while also qualifying for the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup in Australia/New Zealand.

For Lawrence and PSG, one of the goals for this season was to qualify for the group stage of the UEFA Women’s Champions League, in which PSG has gotten as far as the Final back in 2016-17. After a successful first round in the qualifiers, PSG were drawn with Swedish side BK Hacken in round two in an attempt to reach the group stage.

Lawrence was a starter in the first leg of the qualifiers, showing why she is one of the pillars of the team, helping PSG win 2-1. In the second leg, Lawrence once again got the nod in the starting XI, helping her team claim they victory they needed to play the UWCL, downing BK Hacken 2-0 and sending a message to the rest of their European rivals.

Next up for Lawrence and PSG is a return to domestic action and a chance to rise up to first place in the Division 1 Femenine, in which they currently sit in second. Their next match will be on Sunday against Le Havre, and no doubt the Canadian and her teammates will be taking the field to demonstrate that they mean business across both domestic and international competitions.